+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| TPWD News Releases Dated 2011-05-05 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| This page contains only plain text, no HTML formatting codes. |
| It is not designed for display in a browser but for copying |
| and editing in whatever software you use to lay out pages. |
| To copy the text into an editing program: |
| --Display this page in your browser. |
| --Select all. |
| --Copy. |
| --Paste in a document in your editing program. |
| If you have any suggestions for improving these pages, send |
| an e-mail to webtech@tpwd.state.tx.us and mention Plain Text Pages. |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[ Note: This item is more than three years old. Please take the publication date into consideration for any date references. ]
[ General Media Contact: Business Hours, 512-389-4406 ]
[ Additional Contacts: David Mendez, davidm.gms@bizrgv.rr.com ]
May 5, 2011
Brownsville Angles for Guinness World Record of Fishing
ATHENS--Las Huellas Fishing Kids and the City of Brownsville will attempt to set a record for the world's biggest fishing tournament on Saturday, May 21.
Event organizer David Mendez hopes at least 1,000 kids will show up to fish for catfish in the resaca adjacent to the Brownsville Event Center at 1 Event Center Blvd.
The first 800 youths to register will receive a free rod-and-reel combo and a T-shirt. Food, door prizes and goodie bags will be given out as long as the supply lasts. Registration will take place from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., and fishing will begin at 8:00 a.m. and end at 11:00 a.m.
Trophies will be awarded to first-, second- and third-place winners in age groups 6 and under, 7 to 11 and 12 to 16. Additional prizes will be awarded to those catching the first five tagged fish.
Major sponsors of the event include Las Huellas, City of Brownsville, Brownsville City Manager's Youth Fund, Brownsville Public Utilities Board, Sombrero Festival and Brownsville Herald. The event is free to all participants.
"Las Huellas is Spanish for 'The Tracks'--wildlife tracks," says David Mendez, event organizer. "The Las Huellas organization serves as an advocate for the benefit of South Texas wildlife and for the rights of South Texas wildlife managers, landowners and sportsmen in educational and wildlife habitat-related arenas."
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department staff will assist with the event.
For more information about Las Huellas, visit http://www.lashuellas.org/.
-30-
[ Note: This item is more than three years old. Please take the publication date into consideration for any date references. ]
[ General Media Contact: Business Hours, 512-389-4406 ]
[ Additional Contacts: Chris Holmes (979) 229-2886 or chris.holmes@tpwd.texas.gov ]
May 5, 2011
Texas State Parks to Host Annual Summer Geocache Challenge Event
Tapping what has become a global network of ongoing geocache events, Texas State Parks is hosting a statewide Texas Geocache Challenge on Saturday, June 4, with 89 state park locations (dividing the state into eight regions) scheduled to participate as host sites.
Each park in the Texas Geocache Challenge will have a special hidden "cache" that will test participants' individual scavenger-hunting skills in the outdoors to find each one. In advance of the statewide competition, participants should download a Texas Geocache Passport for each of the eight regions, as well as the coordinates of each of the caches located within a specific park, from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Web site: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/geocaching/.
Geocaching (pronounced GEE-oh-cash-ing) has recently become an enormously popular outdoor-enthusiast sport throughout the world for both children and adults. It combines treasure hunting with outdoor recreation and hiking, as well as technology (a handheld global positioning system, or "GPS," device is needed). Weatherproof boxes are hidden in specific locations (caches) marked with GPS coordinates, and individuals navigate to hidden locations using the provided coordinates to find each box and its contents.
"Geocaching is a healthy way to get out on the trails of state parks," said Chris Holmes, outdoor education coordinator for Texas State Parks. "We think it should appeal to families and provide a really fun thing to do in a state park. The fun thing with the kids is that they literally get to find treasure, so we know they will be excited when they find the cache. This is really using technology to be outside, and we've seen today's tech-savvy children grasp the idea and hit the trail running."
In the Texas Geocache Challenge, the hidden cache box at each park will contain collectible wildlife-themed trading cards, park information, a logbook for cachers to record their visit and a paper hole punch unique to the park. Once a person finds the cache, he or she uses the hole punch to mark his Geocache Passport and verify the visit.
When competitors have successfully located and documented all caches in a particular region, they can mail the completed passport to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in Austin. The first 25 people to send in completed passports will receive a commemorative "geo-coin," a metal medallion with the date and Geocache Challenge logo. Other participants who finish and submit their completed Geocache Passports, but were not a part of the first 25, will receive Texas Geocache Challenge stickers, a certificate of completion, and be entered to win additional geo-coins in a lottery drawing.
Some of the participating state parks in the Texas Geocache Challenge include popular destinations such as Big Bend Ranch, Huntsville, Bastrop, Caddo Lake, Palo Duro Canyon, Mustang Island, Brazos Bend, Enchanted Rock, Lost Maples, Estero Llano Grande and Dinosaur Valley State Parks.
"In years past, only a relative few owned a handheld GPS, but now they are commonplace with people being able to use iPhone apps and even car GPS units to find these caches," said TPWD'S Robert Owen.
"We really want people to get outside, and geocaching offers one more reason to do so and visit our many great state parks, as a family or as individuals," Holmes said. "Try geocaching and you might get hooked and end up searching for more of the thousands of other geocaches stashed across Texas that you never knew existed!"
For more information, and a complete list of the parks and regions in the Texas Geocache Challenge, visit our website at: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/geocaching/. Or, to learn more about geocaching, visit http://www.geocaching.com/.
---
On the Net:
Video: http://www.youtube.com/user/TexasParksWildlife#p/c/A8B851332AD862D7/0/K6G5gVTyGpQ
Video: http://www.youtube.com/user/TexasParksWildlife#p/c/A8B851332AD862D7/1/FKCkNciB7dk
-30-